Tag: Afternoon Edition

“Now under the attacks of the world which talk to us about our sins, let us see that we can do penance,” the pope said at a mass at the Vatican.

“I have to say that we Christians, even lately, have often avoided the word ‘penance’ that seemed to us too hard,” the pope said, speaking for the first time since he was directly named in allegations of helping to protect priests who have abused children.

The Vatican issued what spokesman Federico Lombardi called a “clarification” of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s assertion Monday that homosexuality — not celibacy — is the “problem” that causes Catholic priests to molest children.

In the highly unusual statement, the Vatican said Roman Catholic Church officials were not “competent” to speak on psychological issues concerning general society.

His offer came after the interim authorities warned Bakiyev that the country’s special forces would arrest him if he failed to surrender and carried on holding rallies in his southern stronghold where he fled after the uprising.

But with still no compromise in sight and the interim government seeking to assert its authority in the capital after the protests that left 83 dead, the strategic Central Asian country, home to a key US airbase, remained dangerously on the edge.

Russian officials said flight data showed traffic controllers recommended the crew divert to another airport while Polish prosecutors said there was no indication they were pressured by those onboard to override the advice.

As crews battled to retrieve bodies from the wreckage of a crash that killed 96 people, including much of Poland’s elite, experts also struggled to identify mutilated remains.

“Bakiyev still has a chance to leave the country,” Roza Otunbayeva told reporters in the capital Bishkek, during an official day of mourning for the scores of people who died in this week’s uprising.

But the former foreign minister warned, “We will only guarantee his personal safety if he resigns.”

As Russia and the European Union vowed to support an interim government, the man chased from power after a five-year rule said the nation faced catastrophe.

Although his exact whereabouts were unknown, Kurmanbek Bakiyev told Russian radio he was in southern Kyrgyzstan and had no plans “to leave at the moment”, and released a statement insisting that he would not throw in the towel.

Opposition protesters seized the presidential administration Wednesday night and announced on state radio that they had formed a provisional government with former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva at its head.

A worker at Bishkek’s international airport told AFP that the 60-year-old Bakiyev had fled the capital aboard a small plane as his opponents consolidated their grip on key national institutions.

The explosions destroyed residential buildings in mostly Shiite neighbourhoods, with Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta saying four of the bombs detonated inside the buildings.

“Six bomb attacks in several neighbourhoods of Baghdad occurred, and seven buildings collapsed,” an interior ministry official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The attacks in quick succession were among the deadliest so far this year in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where insecurity has raised concerns in the United States as Washington steps up the fight in Afghanistan and against Al-Qaeda.

Pakistan’s Taliban claimed responsibility for the consulate attack, claiming it was to avenge a US drone war targeting top militants in Pakistan’s border areas with Afghanistan, and threatened further assaults on Americans.

With new cases being reported almost daily, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pope’s vicar for Rome, told Vatican Radio that it was a “moment of suffering” for the Church.

Benedict, 82, was to lead a Good Friday observance at St Peter’s Basilica before presiding over a traditional procession at Rome’s Colosseum re-enacting Jesus Christ’s final hours and crucifixion.

The $9.9 billion pledge from some 50 donors includes $5.3 billion for the 2010-2011 period, far in excess of the $3.8 billion that was sought by conference organizers for that period.

That target was meant to fund a $4 billion action plan put forward by the Haitian government for reconstruction projects over the next two years in the poorest country in the Americas.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, co-hosting the conference with UN chief Ban Ki-moon, pledged 1.15 billion dollars, saying the funds would go toward supporting Haiti’s plan “to strengthen agriculture, energy, health, and security and governance.”

The 27-member European Union and the European Commission said its members would provide a total 1.235 billion dollars, with France offering to disburse 180 million euros (243 million dollars) in 2010-2011 for food and the re-establishment of government authority.